The Alliance
The SNA aims to influence the Government to implement an integrated systems approach to tackle all sources of nitrogen overuse and waste to deliver benefits for health, nature, climate and produce a more sustainable food and farming system.
Reducing nitrogen pollution across the system requires a cross-government approach to reduce nitrogen pollution in line with statutory national targets and international commitments. This would enable effective collaboration between and within local and central government, with more advice and guidance given to local councils to achieve reductions in nitrogen pollution within their net zero strategy, planning or other strategies.
Nitrogen pollutes the air as ammonia and nitrogen oxides, contributing to particulate matter pollution. Associated health concerns include asthma, heart disease, lung disease and a range of cancers.
Nitrous oxide, a reactive nitrogen gas, is a key player in the climate story. With a global warming potential which is 273x that of carbon dioxide over a 100-year period, it lasts much longer in the atmosphere than methane or carbon dioxide.
In England, 99% of sensitive habitats are overloaded with nitrogen, causing biodiversity loss and species shifts. Nitrogen deposition drives a decline in the health of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), many of which are the last home for species at risk of extinction.
Nitrogen is a key element of the farming and food system but its current use is unsustainable. The industrialised UK food production system (crop and livestock) relies on high levels of inputs, driving food and energy insecurity.
The Challenge
What is the problem?
Nitrogen is an element that is essential for all life on earth. In its stable state, nitrogen makes up 78% of the air we breathe. In its reactive state, nitrogen is an essential building block for all life as it is used to create amino acids and DNA.
But when reactive nitrogen is released into the environment, it causes damage in multiple forms: excess, unutilised fertiliser from agriculture; air pollution from vehicle exhausts, livestock, industry and homes; and as a greenhouse gas released from the breakdown of fertilisers, manures and drained peat. These cause an imbalance in the nitrogen system, with excess nitrogen polluting the soil, air and water systems, and causing harm to living things.
The Solutions
​The systemic nature of reactive nitrogen means that sources and impacts are interrelated. It cannot be managed in silos, so the first step to reducing nitrogen pollution is taking a system-wide approach using an integrated government strategy to deliver multiple benefits more effectively for people, nature and our climate.
